SPOKANE, Wash. -- When it comes to the second game of an NCAA tournament weekend, there's often no time for distractions.

With the quick turn around and so little time to prep, there's only time for basketball.

But ever since arriving in Spokane, Wash., Harvard has been attempting to stiff arm a giant distraction -- one it would rather not be dealing with as it prepares to take on who many consider the NCAA tournament favorite, No. 4 seed Michigan State on Saturday (8:40 p.m. ET, TNT).

It all started Tuesday -- just as Tommy Amaker was getting his guys settled out in the Pacific Northwest -- when news broke that Boston College had fired coach Steve Donahue.

Now, no matter how much the Crimson would rather talk about their second straight NCAA tournament win -- something that's never been done before in the history of the school -- they're having to face questions about Amaker potentially leaving.

"You guys have a tight relationship with Tommy and he sold you on the program and now his name comes up when something like BC happens," said a reporter to Harvard guard Siyani Chambers. "And now his name comes up when something like BC happens. Were you surprised when you heard the news about the job and do you try to tune it out so it's not a distraction?"

"I think that if a situation like that ever occurred," Chambers pondered, "coach would come to all of us first before making a decision."

The decision hasn't been made, but those covering the Harvard basketball program say the deal could move quickly as soon as the Crimson lose. Seeing as how Amaker and his family are right up the road in Cambridge, Mass., a move to Chesnut Hill seems plausible.

"Sorry, it just makes too much sense," wrote Bostons Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy. "The 48-year-old Amaker has done everything he can do in seven seasons in the Ivy League. He has hit the glass backboard ceiling. He is an ACC guy (Duke) and a man who can take BC back to the levels it reached under Bob Cousy, Dr. Tom Davis, and the much-maligned Al Skinner (Al must be smiling a lot these days). And he would not have to move his family.

"Amaker and his players have worked very hard to get here. Playing in the NCAA tourney is a big deal in every way, but the quest is suddenly compromised by the timing of the Donahue firing and the specter of Amaker leaving."

Amaker and his players have worked hard to get here. Their accomplishments are not small. Amaker's Crimson now have won games in back-to-back tournaments, not accomplished by an Ivy League school since Princeton in 1983-84.

Last March, Harvard upset No. 4 seed New Mexico. This year, it was Cincinnati.

Amaker has brought in the first top 25 recruiting class in Ivy League history and taken the Crimson from 8-22 his first season to 14-14 in 2008-09, 21-7 in ’09-10, 23-7 and the Ivy co-championship in ’10-11.

He has won three straight outright conference titles (and NCAA berths), going 26-5, 20-10 and 26-4 over the past three seasons.

"I didn't hear it," Harvard guard Brandyn Curry said of the potential Boston College issue. "I don't think anybody else did. It certainly wasn't discussed. But I'm not...we're not surprised. Obviously when the job opened up before I think he was one of the candidates. And he's a terrific coach so of course people are going to want him."

Amaker has created a golden era for Harvard basketball, but the success has created a new kind of headache. While big-time Michigan State focuses on X's and O's in the hotel ballroom, the Crimson are fielding potentially distracting questions.

“I have not (addressed it with my players). I’ve always been...there’s nothing to address,’’ Amaker said, fidgeting slightly in the press room Wednesday. “There’s nothing for me to talk about, to comment on. I can’t address speculation about so many things all the time. But I understand the question, and I certainly appreciate, obviously ...wanting some type of maybe comment from me, but my comment is exactly what I mentioned before and I don’t like to comment on other situations or jobs.

“I certainly feel like what we have in front of us is the most important and I do think that’s the right thing for our school and our kids and in all honesty for me. And the health of all those things that go into that."